Tech heavyweights get behind teaching kids to code

There’s a greater need for people who can code than will be ever be fulfilled. That’s the message behind a new organisation that has the backing of some serious tech heavyweights.

The organisation, called Code.org, aims to promote the teaching of code to kids all around the world. It’s also trying to tackle perceptions that coding is difficult to learn and build an “authoritative database” of all programming schools, whether they are online courses, brick and mortar schools or summer camps.

“Our vision is that every student in every school has the opportunity to learn how to code,” the organisation says. “We believe computer science and computer programming should be part of the core curriculum in education, alongside other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses, such as biology, physics, chemistry and algebra”.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg took to his social network to endorse the organisation. “Everyone should have the chance to learn to code in school. I’m proud to support code.org,” he said.

Code.org’s advisory board meanwhile includes the likes of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, Nestcape co-founder and power VC Marc Andreesen and Dropbox CEO Drew Houston. There are also a couple celeb endorsements from the likes of Black Eyed Peas front man Will.i.am and NBA all star player Chris Bosh.

Author | Stuart Thomas

Stuart Thomas joined the Burn Media team in 2011 while finishing off an MA in South African Literature. Eager to prove his geek credentials, he allowed himself to be thrown in the deep and did his best to stay afloat. When not fused with his keyboard, you can find... More